Ask Matt: How do Amazon and Sears match up?

A: During the holidays, consumers start to compare and contrast retailers. But sizing-up retailers is something investors do all the time, trying to find the best opportunities.

But from the perspective of investors, Amazon and Sears don’t have much in common. The fact they’re both retailers, lose money and are publicly traded are about the only things Amazon and Sears share.

Retailers are often treated as a group, yet these two well-known retailers couldn’t be much more different from a financial standpoint.

Amazon.com is richly valued retailer that’s still finding ways to grow faster than the industry. Amazon’s revenue over the past twelve months rose 22.5% over the same period a year ago. Compare that with the 5.5% decline in revenue at Sears.

Meanwhile, while Amazon lost money in its latest quarter, it still posted a profit of $132 million over the past twelve months. Sears lost $1.5 billion during the same period. Meanwhile, Amazon does nearly twice the amount of annual revenue than Sears, most recently $70.1 billion over the past twelve months.

But with its faster growth and better profit forecasts, investors are paying up for Amazon. Amazon sports a market value of $181 billion, well above the $4.8 billion value of Sears. Amazon also has a P-E ratio of 1,428 times, which is beyond nosebleed levels. Sears, on the other hand, doesn’t have a P-E ratio, because it loses money. Investors have demonstrated that they can’t get enough of Amazon, while Sears has lagged the market. Shares of Amazon are up nearly 58% this year, while Sears’ stock is up 10%.